


Julie and the Phantoms: The Band Lives On Series

by JukePhantoms1124



Series: The Band Lives On [5]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: F/M, M/M, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-24
Updated: 2020-09-24
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:53:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26635408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JukePhantoms1124/pseuds/JukePhantoms1124
Summary: Luke thinks back to the night Julie saved them and struggles with his feelings for Julie.
Relationships: Alex & Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Julie Molina/Luke Patterson
Series: The Band Lives On [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1929313
Comments: 31
Kudos: 531





	Julie and the Phantoms: The Band Lives On Series

**Author's Note:**

> FYI...this is a heavy Juke chapter, but there is a sweet mention of Willex, which is why I tagged them. Willex scenes are coming!

Luke scribbled in his notebook as he stretched out on his childhood couch, while his mom…oblivious to his presence…vacuumed around him. She was humming to a song he didn’t know, but it had a killer beat, so he found himself tapping his feet to the time. 

He looked up…a bit startled when she started singing lyrics. “Haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate…Fakers gonna fake,fake fake, fake, fake…heartbreakers gonna, break, break, break, break…but I’m just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake…shake it off, shake it off!”

He let out a laugh as he shook his head. “Love you, mom…but I didn’t get my singing abilities from you.”

Still, he couldn’t help but be happy seeing her like this…he certainly noticed a change in his parents ever since they met Julie. The song he wrote about his mother…about his regret for leaving…seemed to have healed them in a way they never had been able to. He would always be grateful to Julie for that…she gave him and his parents a priceless gift.

He had been spending a lot of time here lately during his free time when the band wasn’t rehearsing or when Julie was at school. He knew Julie was at home now and should be alone since Ray had his big date tonight and Carlos was at a sleepover.

He wanted to see her…or just hang out…but he was trying his best to keep his distance. Not that he wanted to, it was just…now that he could touch her…feel her…it made things more difficult to ignore one important fact. She was alive…and he was not.

It was hard to remember that sometimes when he was with her…even before…when his hands would go right through hers…she still made him feel alive. He had to constantly remind himself that feeling alive wasn’t the same as being alive. He placed his hand on his chest and felt what he always felt…nothing.

He sighed as he pushed it away. “Stop feeling sorry for yourself, Patterson,” he muttered as he ran his hands through his floppy hair. “You could be non-existent right now…or your soul could be trapped with Caleb…all things considered, you got it pretty good.”

His mind couldn’t help but drift back to that night…when Julie hugged him for the first time, and he caught her without any hesitation. He had been so wrapped up in her that he didn’t even realize that she didn’t stumble right through him. He was solid and real to her…and she was _hugging_ him.

He had felt his strength come rushing back as he felt her beating heart against his chest and when she pulled back, stunned…it was only when he felt her warm hands slowly glide down his arms that he finally realized what was going on.

“How can I feel you?” she had asked as her hands rested on top of his open palms.

He could barely find the words as his entire body started to glow. “I…I don’t know.”

She reached out and cradled his face in her hands and he immediately returned the gesture, brushing his thumbs gently over her soft cheek. And for a moment he was simply lost…lost in her eyes, in the feel of her warm skin…it was all so overwhelming that he let out a breathless laugh. He moved his hands to hers, grasping them tight and pressed them to his chest before turning to the guys. “I feel stronger.”

Julie immediately urged them to join and when the four of them hugged and became a unit…everything changed. The pain those vicious jolts left behind melted away as the three of them all began to glow.

When the stamps lifted from their wrists another weight seemed to have lifted as they stared up and watched them fly away.

“What do you think that means?” Julie asked in awe.

He looked at her, his lips curved as he said, “I think the bands back.”

She smiled at him and he felt his invisible heart flutter with pleasure…like it always did when she looked at him that way.

“You guys think we can try that hug thing one more time?” Alex had finally said, breaking him from Julie’s eyes.

They hadn’t pulled apart from each other for a long time, jumping around together like laughing loons as they could officially celebrate the fact that they played at the Orpheum. Twenty-five years in the making.

“Oh!” Alex finally exclaimed as he broke apart from the circle. “Willie! I gotta go find him, he thinks I crossed over!”

“Alex, wait,” Julie said as she grasped his forearm. “Is it safe? I know poor Willie is still under Caleb’s control…”

“He’s worth the risk, Jules.”

“Awww,” both Reggie and Luke cooed.

“Shut up,” Alex muttered before turning his full attention to Julie. “I promise you, Julie…I won’t go anywhere near that club. Willie and I have our own way of finding each other…and we have places that Caleb doesn’t know about.”

“Okay,” she said, giving him her best reassuring smile. “Then go be with him…and tell him I said thanks again for helping us. I know how much he risked.”

“I will,” he said and then pulled her into a hug, lingering a moment at the miracle of it, before finally ghosting away.

Julie stumbled a bit and let out a little yelp. “Yeah…still not used to that.”

Luke laughed as he met her eyes and once again, couldn’t find the strength to look away. It was only when he remembered Reggie was still there that he slowly turned towards him. 

Reggie was smiling brightly, looking back between them, completely oblivious. It wasn’t until Luke cleared his throat that he finally got the hint. 

“Oh…uhhh..” He looked over at Julie who was nervously fiddling with her hair. “I’m gonna just…go and…not be here.”

He flashed out of the room and just like that…they were alone.

“Crazy night, huh?” Luke said, breaking the silence as he took a step closer to her.

“Yeah,” she nodded with a smile. “Crazy.”

He lifted a hand towards her, like the time he did on her front porch after they saw his parents, but this time…her hand didn’t fall through. He felt her fingers lightly grazing his palms and a shiver rushed through him. How was that possible?

Julie brushed her thumb against the place where Caleb’s stamp disappeared. “Does that hurt? I mean…is it really gone?”

“It doesn’t hurt it all…even the slight pull I always felt…it just went away the moment you hugged me.”

She shook her head in wonder. “I still don’t understand…how…”

“I don’t know, Jules…but I’m not going to question it.” He lifted his other hand to play with the ends of her curls. “It clearly happened for a reason.”

“You think so?”

“Of course…I wouldn’t be here with you if I didn’t believe that.”

She let out a shaky breath as she felt her emotions stir. “I thought I had lost you guys…earlier tonight…when you didn’t show.”

“I’m so sorry, Jules…”

“No,” she said firmly as she reached down until she had both his hands in hers. “It wasn’t your fault…I knew you guys didn’t stand me up again and I also knew you wouldn’t have taken his deal.”

“So you thought we were gone,” he murmured, realizing it now. “And yet…you still found the strength to go on stage.”

She nodded slightly, letting out a breath when Luke let go of one of her hands to brush away a tear that slid down her cheek. “My mom…she gave me a sign…I went outside the club for some air…talking to her, thinking I lost you…it was all too much. But then…a kind lady gave me a flower…not just any flower but a…”

“Dahlia,” Luke finished for her. “Your mom’s favorite.”

She smiled. “Exactly…it was the sign I needed to give me the courage to go on that stage alone…but it turns out, I wasn’t alone.”

“Nope,” he said with a grin. “We couldn’t let you down.”

“When Alex first appeared,” she continued. “I felt such a huge rush of relief…and then Reggie popped up with that dorky little grin of his.”

Luke laughed with a nod. “Yeah…I know the one.”

“And then you…I looked towards where you were supposed to be…you kept flickering and…I was so worried, but I just told myself to keep on singing.”

“It was hard at first,” he said, understanding the tone in her voice, silently asking him what happened and why it was such a struggle to get to her. “He had a…tighter leash on me than the other guys, I…I don’t know why.”

Julie reached up and hugged him again, as if she were afraid Caleb would take him away right then and there. “He was fighting me so hard,” he continued as he held on just as tight, burying his face in her wild, frizzy hair. “I didn’t think I was going to make it…it wasn’t until I looked at you and kept my eyes on you…I was finally able to break away.”

“Luke.” That was all she said…just his name…and it was enough.

He would have been happy to keep on holding her, but the sound of her dad’s voice calling her name finally had them springing apart.

“I’ll be right there!” she yelled as she hastily wiped away some lingering tears. “I guess I better go.”

“Yeah,” he agreed but continued to stare at her, waiting for her walk away.

She then absolutely floored him by leaning up on her toes and giving him a quick peck on the cheek. She muttered a quick good night and rushed out before he could even stammer out a response.

He didn’t know how long he stood there like an idiot…with his hand on the cheek she had kissed. It wasn’t until Reggie finally popping back in that had him snapping out of it.

“Is it safe to come back now?”

Flustered, Luke had muttered something incoherent about needing to go and ghosted out before Reggie noticed anything. He flashed right to where he was sitting now. He needed the comfort it provided, plus he wanted to see them…especially after he had said goodbye to them earlier that day. When he thought he was crossing over and wouldn’t see them again.

He sat up now when his mom turned off the vacuum, watching her take it back to where she kept it in the hall closet. “Mom?” he asked while she headed over to her favorite chair to do some knitting. “Can I talk to you?”

She didn’t hear him of course, so she didn’t answer…but he liked to imagine in his head what exactly she would say to him if she could.

_Of course, honey…you can talk to me about anything._

He flashed over to his dad’s chair, who was currently upstairs fiddling in his office…probably cleaning his coin collection for the millionth time. “Well…there’s this girl…”

_Is there now?_

“Don’t give me that look…it’s not like that…okay, it’s totally like that.”

_Mmm-hmm._

“Her name is Julie…you and dad met her.”

_Oh, Julie…yes…she was a lovely girl._

“Yeah,” he said with a smile. “She is…but it’s complicated.”

_Most relationships are…at least the ones that matter._

“She does…she matters.”

_Of course she does, sweetie…anyone can see that._

“But I’m a ghost…and she’s not…that makes things complicated.”

_Yet, she can still see you?_

“Well, yeah…”

_And now she can touch you?_

“Yeah…I repeat…complicated.”

_Honey, I love you…but you’re being an idiot._

“What?” he blurted, his voice high and pitchy.

_What you share with this girl is a gift…it’s a rare thing for a lifer…that’s what you ghost call us, right? It’s rare thing for a lifer to see a ghost?_

“Yes…Alex’s friend Willie…says he’s never seen anything like it.”

_Hmm…and you don’t know exactly how much time you and the guys have with Julie?_

“Well, no…but…”

_Or how long you’ll get to sing with her…write songs with her or just have her in your life?_

“No…I don’t.”

_So those times are precious you would say?_

“Very,” he admitted.

_And yet here you are…spending your Friday night with your mother. Really, Luke…I taught you better than that. Just because you’re a ghost doesn’t mean you’re not entitled to have an afterlife._

He opened his mouth but shut it after a moment when the realization hit. “You’re right.”

_Of course I’m right…I’m your mother, I’m always right._

“I should be spending as much time with her as I can…I know more than anyone that you’re not guaranteed tomorrow.”

_There’s my smart boy…now…what are you waiting for? Get out of here._

Luke grinned as he leaned forward and pressed his ghostly lips to her cheek, smiling a bit when she paused in her knitting, slowly lifted a hand to the same spot. “Thanks mom…I love you.”

_I love you, too._


End file.
